Buybacks

One of the more popular ways gun control advocates have been "getting guns off the street" is by staging regular buy backs. This story is an interesting tale of what happened when an old WWII vet sold a rare rifle for $75 in Target gift cards. It highlights a few of the main problems which are:

• The guns being bought back are often coming from WWII veteran's closets, not the hands of criminals.
• It is possible to get a gun for less than $75 on the street. At least in this case the kids can't run out and buy a new gun with their gift card. However some buyback programs pay cash and may actually be funding efforts by gang members to up-arm to better weapons.
• Some of the guns being bought back have significant historical and collector value. There are lots of fine old guns sitting in people's closets. And they will be melted down, destroyed, and lost forever.

What is unusual is that when collectors realizes that this vet was sending a rare and expensive rifle to the junker (one of only fifty ever made), the police actually gave it back. Good for them.